Snowkite Lessons in Pangnirtung Nunavut

Snowkiting takes off in windy hamlet

Peter Worden
Northern News Services
Published Monday, March 04, 2013

PANNIQTUUQ/PANGNIRTUNG
The many multicoloured kites zigzagging across Pangnirtung fiord belong to the territory's fastest-growing crew of adventure-sport enthusiasts: the snow sailors.

"We get some pretty good winds here in Pangnirtung. You get yourselves on skis with a parasail and go floating around the fiord," said hamlet senior administrative officer Ron Mongeau about the sport.

"Sometimes you're down on the ice, sometimes you're up in the air."

Snow-kiting attracts more and more new participants every year, but the speed, remoteness and relative newness of the sport meant the hamlet's youth committee wanted to partner with a pro instructor to teach a safety "crash" course.

"We're making sure that anyone who's going to be out on the fiord snow-sailing has basic first aid," said Mongeau.

Martin Hanzalek, lead instructor at the Newfoundland Snowkite School, has travelled throughout the North giving lessons before. He was on the ice last week teaching a dozen or so Pangnirtung snow sailors.

Beginners often don't put their skis on, but first learn to control their kite. Once comfortable with that, they slip into their skis or snowboard and start letting the wind, via their kite, propel them around the ice. Once they're experienced with that, they can start catching air off a snow drift, or riding a strong gust of wind, and pull themselves up to get a few seconds of air time.

"There's a really active group here," Hanzalek said about the increasing popularity of the "none-consumptive, self-propelled" mode of Arctic travel. "Pangnirtung as a venue is one of the nicest places in the planet to take advantage of the sport."

With Auyuittuq Park as a backdrop, good one-directional wind conditions in the fiord, and new, regular air-links between Baffin Island and Greenland, the sky's the limit for the popularity of the sport. Martin Hanzalek said his group is looking at creating a joint partnership between Canada and Greenland to conduct a snowkite expedition across the Greenland ice cap.

"There are a lot of exciting ideas in the plans," said Hanzalek, giving as an one example how every spring a multitude of people snow-kite the prevailing winds across Greenland. "It's a fantastic way to see the planet's second-largest ice cap and connect with some of the communities."

The adventure sport could have potential adventure-sport-tourism spinoffs for Pangnirtung. Many who do the Greenlandic sojourn by snowkite already fly there via Iqaluit, where colourful sails are already a common sight on the bay. In Pangnirtung, Mongeau even sees the possibility down the road of a snow-kiting festival.

"It has really created a buzz in the community," he said. "Every year we're trying to attract more and more youth to it. It's very popular right now and we're really hoping it's going to continue to grow."

Some videos and more information about snow-kiting in Pang can be found on Hanzalek's blog and on the hamlet's website.

Twilight in the Arctic

You couldn't pick a more picturesque winter playgournd, with the entrance to Auyuittiq Park in the background. Just beyond the horizon is the Penny Ice Cap (the third largest ice sheet in the world) and Mount Thor (featured in the James Bond film "The Spy Who Loved Me").

Unlike kite surfing (which can be done in many places all over the world), optimal snowkite venues are globally few and far between. In Nunavut however, your playground is virtually limitless. Kiting is an easy and effective way of covering huge distances in the north. In 2012 a group traveled the entire northwest passage on kite, and dozens of people cross greenland with snowkites each spring.

With the ocean frozen 50+km off the coast and glacier covered mountains decorating our backdrop, snowkiting in Nunavut provides a feeling of freedom not found anywhere else. It's no wonder the inuit refer to this place as "the land that never melts".

Newfoundland Backcountry Skiing

Is there really backcountry skiing in Newfoundland?

Backcountry skiing in Gros Morne National Park's Tableland Mountains offers some surprisingly good powder turns. The terrain in the the Tableland Mountains region is varied offering something for everyone. 

Trout River Bowl offers perfect powder turns with over 1500 feet of vertical decent,. In the Tablelands you can enjoy great ski touring in the valley or steeper runs from the summit. Adjacent slopes to the southwest Gultch itself offer some of the steepest runs. On top of the mountain the Tableland Mountains Plateau has great kite skiing and snowkiting opportunities.

 The Southwest Gultch Cabin is nestled in the trees of the sub-alpine, right on the edge of the final approach to the plateau. The cabin has a wood burning stove, propane lights, two propane cook stoves and ovens (you can cook two turkeys at once) and plenty of space for friends. You can make reservations and get a key to the cabin from Parks Canada.

 Below is the view from the back of the cabin showcasing the limitless lines available in the Tablelands for backcountry skiers and snowboarders looking to venture off the beaten path. The alpine areas are popular with snowkiters who can easily cover 100km in an afternoon of cruising.

What's Snowkiting?

What's this Snowkite thing all about anyways?

Snowkiting is a great way to get around in the winter. Simmilar to sailing, the kite acts like a sail for the skier or snowboarder, allowing them to go wherever they want to. The video below is a great example of what a simple snowkite can do.